NAMI Blog Repost

My Experience So Far as a NAMI Family Support Group Facilitator By Marjorie Antus, NAMI Prince William (Va.) The remarkable thing about the NAMI Family Support Group is how relaxed it is. My sense of peace during the sessions probably stems from having attended only three sessions to date as a co-facilitator and, thus, from not having experienced the outbreak of raw emotion that likely occurs from time to time. But I also credit Jeri Weeks, the lead facilitator, for the relaxed environment. She welcomes everyone, laughs a great deal, and encourages openness with forthright stories of her own life as mother of a man with schizophrenia. In the bereavement support groups I once facilitated, in the NAMI Family Support Group, and also in the NAMI Family-to-Family class I currently attend, I have never failed to see a wonderful dynamic unfold. Many participants seem not to want to walk through the door on the evening of the first session; I among them. That’s obvious from the worried looks. By the third week, however, many come through the meeting room door smiling. It’s almost like clockwork, the camaraderie that takes hold over two weeks. One of the most striking aspects of the support groups overall is, I think, humor. I expected and have seen tearfulness. I expected and have seen fear, frustration and sadness. What I didn’t expect was genuine laughter—a kind of delight—coming from people who are living with mystifying family relationships over which they sometimes have little control. That was a revelation to me. There are two reasons for my becoming a NAMI Family Support Group facilitator. The first is that my teenage daughter died by suicide in 1995. My need to talk about my daughter and her death was immense at the time, but almost no one was capable of sitting with me through the intensity. A support group would have been a safe place to be heard, so that is what I try to provide others as facilitator: a safe place to be heard. The second reason is that I have a grown son with schizoaffective disorder who is living with my husband and me in a stable and good way. It is mostly concern for John Paul’s future that motivates me to help build the NAMI community. Posted by Contributors: at 10:41 AM 6 comments: Labels: education, family-to-family, hope, NAMI Family Support Group, personal story Tuesday, February 26, 2013 Connecting with Others By Emma Volesky Emma Volesky. Photo: Courtesy I attended the NAMI National Convention for the first time last year. When I first heard about the convention, I knew at once I had to go. Not only did I want to go, I needed to go. Just the idea of going made me excited. Now, having experienced the convention firsthand, I can say that it is a hundred times better than I could have ever imagined. The awesome presentations I attended, the brave people I heard speaking and the helpful coping skills I learned made the convention a very worthwhile trip for me. But most of all, the memories and friendships I got to take home with me made the convention even more meaningful to me. One of the most wonderful things I experienced while at the convention was meeting people who understood what I have been through. For years and years, I isolated myself from the world. I felt worthless, sickening and inadequate and everything else someone living with a mental health condition can feel. These kinds of thoughts had me believing that I was every one of those things, which ultimately led me to the worst belief of all: that I was alone. I was alone. This belief pulled me down into a pit of misery. I got pulled deeper and deeper every second I felt alone. Even though I was in recovery when I first heard about the convention, I still felt like there was a big chance that the convention could help me feel even better and it did! I got to meet other young adults like me at the young adult networking session during convention. We talked about the issues most important to us and had fun the rest of the convention together. I now know without a doubt that I am never alone. Also at the convention, I became aware of all the new opportunities at NAMI that exist for young adults and that can help me change the world. I had been speaking about my mental illness since I was 17 years old, but now I speak with even more intelligence because of everything I learned attending workshops during the convention. Everyone impacted by mental health conditions should go to NAMI’s conventions. There are a lot of reasons they should go that range far and wide. For me, the biggest reason is that I learned I am making a big difference in my life and in the lives of others just by attending the convention. The convention empowers people to be themselves without their mental health condition keeping them back. Being at the convention showed me that there is hope. There still is the stigma of mental illness but it can be defeated by something as simple as attending conventions held by NAMI. This is a humungous step toward fighting stigma in my opinion. All in all, the NAMI National Convention last year impacted me in a very good way more than anything has before. It gave me confidence to go further in my life! I can't wait for the 2013 convention to see my friends and to learn more about how I can be an effective young adult leader. I hope to see even more young adults and adults there this summer. And a few last words: 2013 NAMI NATIONAL CONVENTION HERE I COME!!!!! NAMI is excited to announce that the 2013 NAMI National Convention will include the first ever young adult track. This track will equip young adults with the skills they need to make a difference in their communities, in the lives of their friends and in their own lives. It will include powerful workshops and special sessions, social events, creative activities and a unique skill-building leadership training specifically for young adults. To learn more about this opportunity for young adults, click here.